multichannel | Internet Marketing Blog

Q&A: Robin Terrell, MD of John Lewis Direct

John Lewis is one retailer which has been a success online over the last few years, experiencing consistent sales growth, and has often been used as an example of a usable website on this blog.

I've been asking John Lewis Direct MD Robin Terrell, one of the keynote speakers at the recent Internet Retailing conference, about the company's approach to e-commerce...

by Graham Charlton 22 October 2009 10:35am 3 comments

Site review: M&S relaunch

Marks & Spencer launched a revamped version of its website yesterday, the first major update since 2007.

According to M&S, the aim is to 'dramatically improve the customer journey from browsing to basket'. I've been seeing how well the site achieves this goal...

by Graham Charlton 14 October 2009 09:02am 10 comments

App review: Tesco Store Finder

Supermarket giant Tesco has just released its first iPhone app, which allows users to search for their nearest store, get directions, and look through the product range.

Unlike the recent Ocado iPhone app, users cannot actually place orders via the app, but it is a potentially useful app. I've been trying it out...

Tesco Store Finder app

by Graham Charlton 13 October 2009 09:00am 10 comments

E-commerce stats round up

Having gathered together some recent mobile internet stats in a post last week, I've found some stats on online retail from the past month or so.

Here is a selection of recent e-commerce related statistics, along with a few thrown in from our most recent Internet Statistics Compendium...

by Graham Charlton 09 October 2009 09:32am 1 comment

Q&A: Jon Asbury on Halfords's multichannel strategy

Thanks in part to a revamped website and the introduction of its Reserve and Collect service last year, Halfords.com has been enjoying strong growth, with online sales up 90% in the year to April 2009.

I've been asking Halford's Channel Development Manager Jon Asbury about the retailer's multichannel approach...

by Graham Charlton 08 October 2009 10:00am 1 comment

14 reasons why you should launch a pop-up store

A growing trend in the past few years has been that of the pop-up store. They often appear out of nowhere on our high streets and in shopping malls before vanishing into the ether.

Pop-up stores are popular with artists and designers, who create temporary boutiques and galleries, but they’ve also been used by big name brands such as Levis, Adidas and Nike, as well as retailers like Target, JC Penney, and Gap.

Pop-ups have also been set up by various online pureplays, such as lastminute.com and The Foundry. For these companies it is about experiential marketing, as much as anything, but they can also be used as sales channels.

by Chris Lake 01 October 2009 13:38pm 3 comments

Halford's extends multichannel strategy to mobile

Having already achieved some success with its 'Reserve and Collect' service, Halfords is extending its multichannel strategy with the introduction of an SMS reservation service.

The 'Text and Reserve' service caters for mobile users, allowing them to check stock availability and reserve products at their nearest store. I've been trying it out...

by Graham Charlton 01 October 2009 11:06am 1 comment

Reserve and collect is paying off for Halfords

The benefits for retailers of a multichannel approach are highlighted this week by the fact that Halfords has recently reached it's one millionth online reservation for in store collection.

Customers like to do their research online, and it makes perfect sense for those online retailers with a high street presence to offer in store collection services and thus cater for shoppers who would rather shop offline.

by Graham Charlton 11 September 2009 09:09am 1 comment

Create and use your personal QR code in five minutes

QR codes are smart barcodes that have a lot of potential to bridge the gap between online and offline marketing.

QR codes are image-based links to information. QR stands for ‘quick response’... instead of remembering and typing a URL / phone number you just take a picture of a QR code, and it does the rest.

In a nut, here’s how it works:

You create a code (an image).
Someone takes a picture of it on a smartphone.
The code is deciphered via a QR reader.
It becomes a link to provide the viewer with information.

In a moment I’ll show you how to set one up...

by Chris Lake 11 August 2009 13:47pm 5 comments

Interview with John Squire of Coremetrics on web analytics

John Squire, Chief Strategy Officer at web analytics vendor Coremetrics, has a wealth of knowledge about the web analytics industry and he shared some insights with Econsultancy about the company's strategy and proposition on a recent trip to London.